Cafe where Lakewood officers were shot reopens

As 8:14 a.m. approached Saturday outside the coffee shop where four Lakewood police officers died two weeks ago, more than 100 people had already lined up, waiting to infuse the room with hope and love to counter all the pain.

Lakewood Police Chief Bret Farrar, who had asked to be the first in line, said there really was no choice: Forza Coffee Company on Steele Street had to reopen.

"You can't let the bad guys win," he said.

It was 8:14 a.m. on Nov. 29 when Maurice Clemmons opened fire on Lakewood Police Sgt. Mark Renninger and officers Ron Owens, Tina Griswold and Greg Richards. Clemmons eluded police for two days before he was shot and killed by a Seattle police officer.

One of the first people in line Saturday — aside from a small group that entered early — was Laurie Tenorio, who played on a recreational softball team with Owens. It was the first memorial event she's been able to bring herself to attend.

"I wanted to celebrate Ron's life, and today was it," she said.

At 8:14 a.m. on the dot, the store's neon "open" sign was switched on. The crowd clapped and cheered. Bagpipes played. Chief Farrar, coffee cup in hand, emerged from the store along with Forza Coffee Company Chief Executive Officer Brad Carpenter. They greeted every person in the line, which by then stretched more than a block from the store's front door.

It was so cold that Forza staff handed out free coffee to help people stay warm.

Many police and fire personnel showed up, but so did neighbors and friends, longtime Forza customers, and people who had never been inside the store before.

Carpenter said Forza staff didn't start talking about whether to reopen until after Tuesday's memorial service. With support from Lakewood police and the officers' families, they decided to go forward, in part to keep the officers' memories alive.

"It's our responsibility to honor these guys the way they should be," he said.

Inside the store Saturday, as the staff hustled to serve everyone, about a half-dozen Lakewood police officers sat quietly in the spot where their colleagues were working on laptops when they were ambushed.

The table and chairs are new (the furniture the officers used the day of the murder is now in evidence), but the shop otherwise is nearly unchanged — except for a big poster with the four officers' pictures hanging on the wall. Plans call for replacing that with a plaque, with similar ones placed in all 22 Forza Coffee locations. The plaque also will honor Tim Brenton, the Seattle police officer killed on Halloween.

Lakewood Police Sgt. Mark Eakes, who had finished his shift just a few hours before the murders, said he wanted to reclaim Forza for all the coffee shops across the nation that are hubs of their communities — places where people go on dates, meet with friends, sign mortgage papers, even get married.

At 9 a.m., with at least 100 people still in line, Ben Benthien, a chaplain with Central Pierce Fire and Rescue, said many people over the past few weeks approached the store with sadness and fear. He said he told them not to equate the place with the tragedy.

"I kept saying, 'A bad thing happened here, but it's not a bad place,' " he said.

Linda Shaw: 206-464-2359 or lshaw@seattletimes.com